Web Design Trends in 2017

It seems as if web designs have gone kind of all over the place in the past five years, but I think you’re starting to a few trends that will take hold in 2017. First, I think because attention spans are at an all-time low, web pages are going to be simpler, less cluttered and more content-driven. You really can’t fool users with all the bells-and-whistles of wild colors and graphics and expect to keep them on your site unless you actually have valuable content. So I think you’ll see landing pages that have less banner ads, less CTA buttons and zero popups.

Second, I think you’ll see more split-screen pages, with a visual on one half of the screen and text on the other. Split-screen layouts are a fantastic way to grab a users attention, and the cool thing is that you can slot your CTA button on one side of the split, while driving home your marketing hook on the other.

Third, you can kiss the ‘stock photo’ era goodbye. Just five years ago, stock photos were all the rage, but with the trend toward making content that is more personal and engaging on a real, human level, web design is moving toward naturalistic photos of real people in real situations. Users don’t want images that feel artificial and posed, so you’ll see a movement toward realism with stock photos and stock images.

Finally, I think you’ll see more web design that is optimized for mobile devices, because people on the go are driving so much e-commerce. That means that you’ll see more full-page designs, meaning very little white space to take advantage of the horizontal dimensions necessary for the web pages to maximize mobile adaptability. And that will also include larger CTA buttons and larger navigation icons.